Swimming
by Spense
Summary: TV-Verse. A fun outing on the water for the Tracy boys turns serious, and unearths some previously unguessed at truths. One-shot.


SWIMMING

By Spense

The trip was one of their own, a break from the tough rescues they'd been involved with lately. Just to pick up some things Gordon had seen in a wreck off the bottom of the ocean. They needed a break. So they all piled in. Gordon of course did the diving. These were dangerous waters. But when a brief tremor stuck, nothing major, but enough to shake the seabed, Gordon was tangled in netting , sharks lurking and his air tank nearly depleted from a slow leak caused by the wreckage. There was no question that one of them was going down. Suddenly this had become a rescue. John joined in, asking questions, getting into the argument.

"I'm going," Scott stated bluntly.

"Nice try, but you're needed up here. You're Dad's field commander, remember?" I'll go." Virgil was adamant.

"Yeah right," Scott said sarcastically. "This isn't an official IR job."

What neither noticed, nor did John who was weighing in on who was to make the dangerous dive, was that Alan had had taken one look at both of his older brothers, then gone below.

"Hurry up . . . airs going bad." Gordon's weak voice broke in. Virgil and Scott look at each other in mild panic.

"Easy, Gordy, we're coming," Scott slid into the older brother role without a thought.

"That's it, I'm diving," Virgil stated calmly, heading for below to suit up. Scott made as if to argue, but Gordon said something to him, and Scott went back to talking to him, tellinghim their plans.

Virgil got two steps down the deck before Alan was walking past him, suited up for diving, and adjusting his mask, and carrying an extra tank.

Virgil looked at his youngest brother in disbelief. In the panic of the moment, he'd forgotten he was even here. From the look on Scott's face, he had too.

"What the hell . . ." Virgil managed to stutter before Alan was sitting on the side of the boat adjusting his regulator.

Scott was quicker. "What do you think your doing?" His voice rose in anger as he reached for his youngest brother.

Alan looked at him calmly. "Going for a dive. I'm expendable," he finished absently, his mind on the last check of his regulator. And as quick as that, before Scott could even take a step, he was over the side, both brothers looking at the splash with jaws dropped.

John's voice came through the communicator, echoing their incredulity. "Please tell me he didn't just say what I thought he said?"

"Ah, sorry Johnny, we heard it too," Virgil stammered.

Scott turned and shouted into the communicator. "Gordon, Alan's coming down!"

TB TB TB TB TB

Alan grabbed the safety cable the boat had already dropped and snapped it to his dive belt. He began swimming strongly downward, not even aware of the consternation he'd left in his wake. His words, absently spoken were already quickly forgotten in his concern for Gordon, his partner in crime. He knew them to be true; and he had lived with the knowledge all of his life, case closed. Old news. The main thing now was Gordon.

More disaster was added to his already full compliment of trouble when debris struck Alan hard, causing him to drop the extra tank. Alan desperately scanned the area where the tank had disappear, but in the murky water, it was gone beyond hope. He was already three quarters of the way to Gordon, nothing to do about it now. He knew what he was going to do.

Gordon looked up in relief at Alan. His air had maybe four minutes left., even as slowly as he'd been breathing. Alan announced to his brothers that he'd reached Gordon, then switched the communicator in his mask to a direct line to Gordon. The others wouldn't like what he was going to do, and Gordon wouldn't understand it, but it was the only way. "I'm cutting you loose, Gordo, then we're switching tanks. Gordon made as if to argue, then realized the sense of the situation. Alan wasn't as oxygen deprived as he was. It was more than two minutes to the surface, but Alan would mange better than he would.

Gordon mimed 'second tank'? But Alan just shrugged. "Lost it on the way down. A piece of debris hit me." Gordon accepted Alan's calmness at face value. Bad situation, but doable. Gordon would have done it the same way. There wasn't a lot of risk, now that Alan was getting him free.

Alan, however, knewdifferent. The way up was littered with debris from the recent tremor. It was no quick swim back to the surface.

Alan made swift work of cutting the extra fine netting than had caught his brother, tangling his arms and equipment. Any dive equipment he couldn't untangle, he cut free. He was done in moments. Then, before anymore thinking could be done, he had his tank off, and had shoved Gordon into it. Gordon took a deep breath, the gray that had been edging into his consciousness quickly dissipating.

"Go!" Alan said to Gordon, as he made quick work of shrugging on the damaged tank. "I'm right behind you."

Gordon nodded, and began to swim for the surface through the dark, murky, debris strewn water, strength returning in moments after getting clear air, and lots of it. Not one for suicide, Alan quickly followed.

Alan watched with a grin as Gordon pushed for the surface, quickly outdistancing his brother, in both his natural ability in the water, and his desire for actual air. Alan breathed carefully and slowly, pacing himself. His limbs were beginning to feel heavy, and he knew, even though he had to get to the surface fast, he couldn't use up all his air in a couple of deep breaths. Suddenly, Alan felt a huge jerk from the cable attached to him, then amazingly, breathing got easier. 'What the hell?' Alan looked at the gauge and his air tank. Still two minute. But he was having no trouble breathing. He paused in the water. Still no trouble. The cable jerked again, disorienting him for a moment. He looked at the gauge. Still two minutes, and his air was fine. Damn thing must be broken. He waited a moment more, then shrugged to himself. May as well go back and get what Gordon wanted, so he wouldn't have to come back. Save them all the heartache. It would only take a couple of minutes. Losing Gordon had been just too close. Apparently he had plenty of air. That puzzeled Alan. Not like Gordon to screw up though. Alan shoved the thoughts aside. They'd deal with it later.

Alan tried to turn back down, but the cable held him in place. Must be caught on something. He looked up, but couldn't see anything through the murk He didn't think much more about it, and unclipped it. He'd deal with it on his way back up. Turning, he dove back down on the wreck, carefully dodging debris.

TB TB TB TB TB

Gordon broke the surface and ripped off his mask, taking in a huge gasp of real, non-compressed air. Then, with strong strokes he headed for the boat.

"Hey Gordon! You can do better than that! Didn't you win the Olympics?"

Gordon heard the taunting and laughed, glad to be alive. He levered himself up on the dive platform of the boat and shot back, "Yeah, but you know, they didn't have all that crap in the water!"

Scott gave Gordon a hand back in the boat, and asked what it was like after the tremor. They'd have to re-map the who area now. Gordon grabbed the towel proffered from Virgil, began to answer, then straighten suddenly,and worriedly searched the water around the boat. "Where's Alan? He was right behind me!"

Virgil shrugged, looking at the map Scott had unrolled, already focused on their next issue. "He's okay, he took that extra tank. He's just slower than you, that's all."

"Extra tank, hell! He lost it on the way down. He switched with me!" Gordon ran his hand through his hair, going cold with worry.

"What did you say?" Scott stood up quickly and looked Gordon in the eye, his jaw tightening.

"He switched tanks with me! He said he lost the other one in all the crap. Visibility is zero down there, and if he lost sight of it, it would be gone!"

Scott and Virgil looked at each other, horrified, and the boat became the scene of a rescue once again.

"John . . ." Scott started to say, before he was cut off.

"Way ahead of you," John's voice came through the communicator. There was a pause, then, "His air's gone! Life signs are still there, but slowing." The shake in John's voice was audible.

"The cable!" Gordon exclaimed, "He had the safety cable attached to his dive belt!"

Virgil dove for the winch, while Gordon donned dive gear again, and headed for the water.

"DAMM!" Virgil's frustrated exclamation split the air.

Scott and Gordon looked over towards their pale brother. "Cable's caught! It won't rise!"

"Hurry guys! Alan's signs are deteriorating!" John's voice was panicked.

Gordon didn't say anything, just ran for the edge of the boat and jumped back into the water. Scott leaned on the port side of the boat both hands supporting him on the edge and he looked down after Gordon, as he disappeared quickly into the murky depths.

The tension was thick, and the wait felt interminable until they hear Gordon's triumphant 'Got him! I'm going tryto buddy-breath with him. Cable's untangled! Bring us up NOW Virgil! I'll keep the crap out of the way."

The winch came to life and Virgil watched as the cable came up fast. Suddenly the bodies of both brothers cleared the water, and Scott and Virgil were pulling Alan into the boat. It was apparent that Alan wasn't breathing on his own, but a quick check revealed a slow to almost non-existent pulse. Going into action, Scott tilted Alan's head back and started to breath for him, with Virgil assisting as Gordon scrambled aboard.

"John . . ."Virgil began before he was cut off.

"Way ahead of you," John answered, shakily. "Base has been notified. Their waiting on you now."

"Gordon," Scott growled between breaths, "then get us out of here, fast." At the blue tinged skin of his brother's face, Gordon didn't need much more prompting than that.

TB TB TB TB TB

Alan was enjoying his swim among the wreck. He was really beginning to see what his brother found so fascinating down here. The fish were amazing. And the water was clearing. He could see everything now. All the debris and muck churned up by the tremorhadbegun to fade away. He reached out to touch a beautiful blue and white striped fish. The fish turned it's tail, and darted away at his soft touch. It was quiet, and really peaceful. That is, until the shark showed up.

TB TB TB TB TB

Scott watched from the Infirmary door as Jeff Tracy sat with his youngest son, quietly stroking his still slightly damp hair back off his forehead. The whoosh of the respirator was very loud in the quiet room. Scott found it odd to see his normally animated younger brother so still. He was usually bouncing off the walls.

They had managed to get his pulse more solid on the way back to the island – a slow one, to be sure, but his heart was beating regularly. But he still wasn't breathing on his own. Brains had gotten him on the Ventilator, and then had checked him over carefully. He was able to assure them that there would be no brain damage from the lack of oxygen, thanks to their quick action,but the fact still remained that Alan still wasn't taking any breaths of his own accord. Thank heaven's for the well equipped Infirmary and Brain's expertise. They would have lost Alan for sure without that. They still could. Scott shuddered.

At his side, Virgil murmured shakily, "He said he was expendable."

Jeff Tracy's eyes snapped around to his second oldest son and said in shock, "He said WHAT?"

Virgil lifted haunted eyes to his father's. "When we were arguing about who was going to go down to get Gordon, Alan just did it. He didn't argue. He sat on the edge of the boat and said that he was expendable, and went over into the water."

"What was he d-d-d-doing?" Brains asked in amazement. "C-c-c-omitting suicide?"

Gordon and Scott both shook their heads vigorously. "No!" came their emphatic reply. John chimed in with the same reaction via the vidphone. "Nothing like that."

"Alan had an extra tank with him," Scott explained, while Gordon followed up with "He had the safety line, and he was coming up behind me, I swear he was!"

The whoosh of the respirator was the only sound in the room for a moment. "Then what did he mean . . .?" Jeff's voice shook in puzzlement.

"I know," came Grandma's quiet reply. She stood up from the other side of Alan's bed. With a reassuring pat on her youngest Grandson's cold hand, she walked around to her son and held out a hand. "Come with me, I'll explain."

"No, I can't leave . . ." Jeff Tracy began uncertainly.

"The boys will look after him. Come with me now." Her voice was calm, but there was no disobeying the tiny, iron-willed woman. Jeff took her hand and she gently pulled him to his feet.

"Take care of him boys," was all Jeff said to his sons.

Wordlessly they nodded, then looked at each other and silently drifted to fill the empty chairs in the quiet, solemn room.

TB TB TB TB TB

Alan holed up in the cabin of the old wreck. The shark couldn't reach him there. But it just wouldn't go away. All the schools of tropical fish had gone as well, leaving the area barren of life except for him and the shark. They were probably hiding as well. So Alan just waited patiently.

TB TB TB TB TB

Grandma pointed Jeff towards a chair in the kitchen and turned to get coffee for each of them.

"What did you mean, Mother . . ." Jeff asked, still horrified at the comments his youngest son had made to his brothers. "What did you mean that you knew what he meant?" He took the coffee absently.

The frail woman's voice was still as strong as ever as she slid into a chair opposite him. "I do know. Not that Alan has ever mentioned it to me," she said matter-of-factly. "In fact, I don't know that he's ever mentioned it to anybody."

Jeff was completely at sea now. "So, how . . ."

His mother smiled kindly at him, and patted his arm. "Of course Alan feels expendable. He's the youngest of five children. Anything that he's done, all of his brother's have all done before him. And you must remember, you've been stretched very thin sincetheir motherdied, between Tracy Enterprises and starting International Rescue."

"But, I've never felt that way about him," Jeff started to say, absolutely lost.

"Of course not," his mother agreed, "but by the time Alan was playing baseball, you'd sat through how many seasons, with four other boys? It was much easier to send Scott or Virgil to watch. Those two practically helped raise their younger brothers," she stated proudly. After a slight pause, she continued, "And by the time Alan graduated from middle school, it was just a normal rite of passage to you. You'd watchedit at least three times before. You made a fuss over him, to be sure, but you didn't attend. When was the last graduation for any of your son's that you actually attended in person?" She asked.

Jeff had to think hard. He hazarded a guess. "John's college?" He was horrified that he couldn't even remember.

His mother nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that sounds about right. Alan was graduating high school about the time John graduated college. I believe Gordon and I attended Alan's ceremony that year, while you, Scott and Virgil went to John's. The point is, graduations, school functions, sports games, and all the milestones of growing up were old news to you. And you didn't have time. You were stretched far too thin. Of course the younger boys' felt left out. And Jeffrey," she made sure his eyes were on her. "It wasn't anything that you could help. You did the very best that you could do, and I'm so proud of you. They are all fine boys. It was just a part of life, and life isn't always fair. You did your best. So did I. Why do you think I made such a fuss over the youngest children?" She shrugged as she poured more coffee for herself.

Jeff watched his mother in total amazement. "I guess I always thought it was because they were the youngest."

She tilted her head. "True," She nodded agreement. "But also partly because both John, Gordon and Alan needed to know that they were just as important. As they got older, Scott and Virgil and John were taking a huge role in setting up International Rescue. And Gordon won his gold medal. He didn't need assurance so much after that." She smiled proudly at the memory. "Alan just felt like he was a little left out. I just tried to make sure he didn't feel it from me."

Jeff felt a knot in the pit of his stomach. "I never . . . I mean, it never . . . even occurred to me," he said slowly.

"Of course not," his mother said kindly. "You love them all very much.

TB TB TB TB TB

Alan frowned as he watched the shark. This was ridiculous. I mean, really, he could wait all day, but why? Time to get back to the surface. He waited until the shark was at it's farthest point away from him and not facing him, then silently exited out the back of the cabin and began to swim strongly towards the lighter water of the surface.

TB TB TB TB TB

Scott was rubbing the back of his neck, and trying to ease the headache he felt. It was silent in the room, except for the rhythmic sounds of the 'vent. He leaned back in the comfortable arm chair at Alan's bedside and looked up at the ceiling. He did have to hand it to his father – the infirmary was a comfortable set up. He could hear Virgil shifting at the foot of the bed. Then, a sharp intake of breath from Gordon, stretched out tiredly on the bed adjacent to Alan's.

He looked up sharply at his younger brother. "What?"

Gordon nodded towards Alan, not taking his eyes off of the youngest Tracy. "Look, his color's coming back."

Scott slowly leaned forward and fixed his eyes on Alan. Sure enough, the color was coming back. Scott laid the back of his hand on Alan's cheek. He no longer felt so cool. Without taking his eyes off Alan, Scott yelled for Brains.

TB TB TB TB TB

Alan didn't look back. Better not to. But the surface came up much quicker than he'd expected it too, to his great delight. Breaking out of the azure blue water, Alan felt the warm sun on his face. He took of his dive mask and regulator and stretched his face up to the sun, enjoying the clear, hot day. Frowning suddenly, he looked at the water around him. The water was so clear, he could nearly see the bottom. There wasn't any shark in sight. Well, good news, that. Shrugging slightly, and letting the thought of the shark go, Alan looked for the dive boat. It took him a minute, but then he spotted it, way off in the distance. Great, he'd been farther off course than he knew. Nothing to do about it now, of course, except swim. Nice day for that at least. Alan fixed his gaze on the boat, getting the direction fixed in his mind, then took a deep breath and settled into a strong overhand stroke, taking him firmly towards the distant craft.

TB TB TB TB TB

"Dad! DAD!" Virgil came skidding into the kitchen, Gordon hard on his heels.

Jeff looked up in alarm, and stood up so fast his chair went crashing to the floor behind him. That was when he recognized the huge grins on his son's faces.

"Alan's started breathing on his own! Brains says he'll be okay!" Virgil's grin seemed to almost split his face.

"He says it may take him awhile for him to wake up, but he'll be okay! He's taken him off the 'vent, and just put him on oxygen!" Gordon beamed at his father as he breathlessly informed him of the news.

"Scott's talking to Alan now, trying to hurry up the process," Virgil filled in happily. "I think he'll talk until Alan wakes up, just in self defense!"

Jeff's own face felt like it would crack from the smile that grew. He looked over at his mother who had an identical look on her face. "Life isn't always fair, Mother, but sometimes it may surprise us," he commented.

Virgil and Gordon looked puzzled at their father's quiet comment and their grandmother's soft laugh in return, but let it go.

"Come on," Gordon all but danced as he encouraged his elders back to the sickroom, reminding his father of many long ago Christmases.

Jeff picked up the pace himself, grateful for another chance, and secure in the knowledge that he had the time to make sure that none of his sons would ever, EVER feel that they were expendable again.


End file.
